Free Software Foundation Europe receives Theodor Heuss Medal

Published: 2010-05-10

“Acting responsibly for a just and fair digital world”

Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) on Saturday received the Theodor Heuss Medal in
recognition of its work for freedom in the information society. The medal
is awarded once a year in Stuttgart by a non-partisan foundation named for
West Germany's first president.

"We will not gain our freedom in the information society without effort,"
says Karsten Gerloff, FSFE's President. "Software is a central tool of our
society. We need to make sure that we ourselves control this tool, so we
are able to adapt it to our needs."

Ludwig Theodor Heuss, chairman of the Heuss Foundation, highlighted the
fact that software is a cultural technique. "Free Software Foundation
Europe is making a highly competent contribution to the effort of building
a new framework for digital freedom using Free Software."

Since its founding in 2001, FSFE works to put the control of software into
the hands of everyone. "This award for us is a very special recognition of
our work, and a great encouragement to push even harder for the interests
of users and developers," says Gerloff. "For this, we will need a lot of support from many
individuals."

During the ceremony in Stuttgart a wide range of prominent figures from
politics and business were present. Among them were the former German
president Richard von Weizsäcker and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger,
the minister of justice. In his award speech, Ludwig Heuss referred to
organisations like FSFE as "the yeast in society's dough".